THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for the warm welcome. Thank you for being
here. This is an important meeting you're having. After all, over the
past year, high-profile acts of deception in corporate America have
shaken people's trust in corporations, the markets and the economy.

A few dishonest individuals have hurt the reputations of many good
and honest companies, and their executives. They've hurt workers who
committed their lives to building a company that hired them. They've
hurt investors and retirees who placed their faith in the promise of
growth and integrity. For the sake of our free market, corporate
criminals must pay a price.

Today I want to thank all of you -- U.S. attorneys, senior
prosecutors, FBI special agents, senior Treasury and IRS officials, and
many others. I want to thank you for your efforts. And I want to
thank you for the progress which is being made. Your mandate is to
root out crime from corporate America's boardrooms and executive
suites. Your mission is to protect the rights and interests of
American workers and investors. And your work is essential to our
mission.

I particularly want to thank Attorney General John Ashcroft, who is
doing an excellent job as our Attorney General. I also want to thank
Elaine Chao, the Secretary of Labor, for her hard work.

I appreciate Harvey Pitt, who's the Chairman of the Securities and
the Exchange Commission. He's doing a fine job. As is Michael
Powell, Chairman of the FCC; Jim Newsome, the Chairman of the
Commodities Futures Trading Company -- Commission.

Larry Thompson is in charge of the President's task force to root
out corporate fraud as the Deputy Attorney General. Michael Chertoff,
the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the
Department of Justice. Jim Comey, U.S. Attorney, Southern District of
New York; and Debra Yang, U.S. Attorney, Central District of
California. I want to thank them for being up here on the stage with
me. I want to thank them for their fabulous leadership, and doing
what's right for America. (Applause.)

Since the exposure of recent corporate scandals, we have taken a
series of strong measures. The American people need to know we're
acting, we're moving, and we're moving fast. The Securities and
Exchange Commission has hired 50 new personnel to support their efforts
to ensure that business in America is open and honest -- and to
confront it when it's not.

More help is on the way. I've signed the most far-reaching reform
of American business practices since the time of Franklin D.
Roosevelt. With this law, we're making sure that the numbers are
honest, and the numbers are understandable. We're making sure the
auditors are audited and the accountants are held to account.

And one of the most aggressive steps we've taken has been to create
the new Corporate Fraud Task Force -- headed by Larry -- to
investigate and prosecute financial crimes; to recover the proceeds of
those crimes; and hold corporate criminals to account. This task force
includes members of the Justice Department and the FBI, U.S. attorneys
from around the country. It includes the SEC and the Treasury and
Labor Departments, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, the
Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission.

This broad effort is sending a clear warning and a clear message to
every dishonest corporate leader: You will be exposed and you will be
punished. No boardroom in America is above or beyond the law.

I set this mandate, and today I want to give a report to the
American people on the progress, the great progress which you all are
making. Our law enforcement agencies are after them, they're after
them. Since the task force was formed just two and a half months ago,
the Department of Justice has opened more than 100 investigations into
suspected corporate fraud. In two and a half months, 100 cases have
been opened. Charges have been filed against more than 150
defendants. In two and a half months, 150 people have been charged.
And more than 45 defendants have been convicted or intend to plead
guilty. In two and a half months, 45 people have been brought to
justice.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is also acting. In the past
year, the SEC has filed a record 156 actions for financial fraud and
disclosure violations, a 51 percent increase over fiscal year 2000.
During the same period, the SEC has sought to throw 107 unfit officers
and directors out of corporate boardrooms, almost three times the
number the SEC sought to bar in fiscal 2000.

The SEC is aggressively using its enforcement powers to make
corporate wrongdoers financially accountable for their actions. This
fiscal year, the SEC has sought to recover compensation, bonuses, stock
options from 25 corporate officers who betrayed the public trust, an
almost 40 percent increase over last year.

By all these actions, we are making broad and dramatic progress
against corporate fraud in America. We're defending our free
enterprise system against corruption and crime. And we're beginning a
new era of corporate integrity. Corporate responsibility is essential
to America. It's essential to shareholders. It is essential to
investors.

It matters greatly to employees. In February, I proposed important
pension reforms. We must give our workers better access to investment
advice, so they can manage their money wisely. And right now, too many
workers are locked into plans that force them to hold a large portion
of their accounts in the company's stock. Workers ought to be able to
diversify after three years in the company's plan.

The House quickly passed these reforms. They moved swiftly. The
Senate hasn't, and they need to act as well. It's good for American
workers. It's good for job creation. It would be good for our
economy.

Underlying everything we have done so far, and all the actions we
will take in the future, is a basic conviction: the American economy
depends on fairness and honesty. It's not a jungle in which only the
unscrupulous survive, or a financial free-for-all guided only by
greed. That's not the America we know.

The fundamentals of a free market -- buying and selling, saving
and investing -- require clear rules, and confidence, and fairness.
The vast majority of American businessmen and women obey the law and
uphold the rules. The vast majority of our fellow citizens care deeply
about employees and shareholders. They bring great credit to the
system. And those who break the rules and betray the confidence of
their employees and shareholders will be punished. The government
cannot, and should not, try to remove risk from investment. But we
will help ensure that the risks are honest, and the risks are clearly
understood.

We will hold corporate criminals accountable for their misdeeds,
and we will deter corporate crimes by enforcing tough penalties. By
doing this work so well you are serving the American people. You are
serving the American people with distinction. You are leaving a legacy
of responsibility behind. You are making the country a better place.
And for that I'm grateful, and so are the American people.

May God bless you all. May God bless your families. And may God
bless America. (Applause.)